The variety of weapons allow for some innovative moves, and the gameplay tends to be fast and furious. The two-player versus mode is great, but there's also a cool story mode that lets you collect and upgrade your weapons. Easy to play and easy on the eyes, Soul Blade is a stand-out fighter for the Playstation.

Soul Edge is a real stayer. Throughout the production of this entire issue of Play there was rarely a moment when someone wasn't playing it somewhere in the office, and this is testament to its long term challenge.

They say that expectation is the mother of all disappointment. This is generally a true statement. For example, those late night binges at Denny's always leave a bit to be desired, though it always seems like such a great plan in the car. Somehow, the pancakes look much better on the cover of the menu than in person, as evidenced by the fact that people still order the $1.99 Grand Slam Breakfast (are you outta your mind!!??).

Soul Blade is one of the most enjoyable fighting games on the PlayStation. The sword-to-sword or weapon-to-weapon combat is fast paced and sets it apart from the other games in the genre. With numerous modes, tons of weapons, great character balance, and a wide variety of attacks and maneuvers, this is a fighting game that every player should experience.

Soul Blade may very well be the best fighting game on the market today. I really enjoyed the numerous game mode options. It keeps Soul Blade from being another boring beat-up the opponent and that is all type game. You will find that there is hours and hours of fun to be had in each mode which makes for a quality title. This is a game that every fighter fan should own. If you are not a fan of fighting games, rent it anyway just to watch the intro.

I'm a sucker for a good, clean fighting game. What I mean is that it's always fun to sit down and play a fighter that lends itself to two-player fighting. The graphics in Soul Blade are incredible. I'm not one to drool over awesome intros, but Soul Blade has one of the best intros in the history of video gaming. But let's get back into the game. What's nice is that once you play the One-player Mode you can move onto the two-player portion. Then there's the Story Mode, where you can find new weapons and new techniques. The moves are simple, but cool-looking --- I like that. Soul Blade is a really fun fighter, worth the price.

83

PlayStationIGN

Thank God for Namco, that's all I can say. Given the recent fighting game glut, what with everyone waiting for news (any news) on Tekken 3 and the rumored hardware upgrade, it's nice to finally have Soul Blade to tide us over. If you haven't already gone out and made Soul Blade part of your collection, it's time you did. But if you still need some more convincing, well that's what we're here for.

It is very easy to understand why Namco decided to include Soul Blade in its Greatest Hits collection. Even today, two years after its release, it offers a fresh and unique fighting experience and an intriguing story mode. The fast and vicious action puts it near the top of its class in the fighting genre, while the interesting characters keep it from being lumped in as just another clone. All in all, Soul Blade is a great game, and quite worthy of the attention of any fighting game fan.

To describe Soul Edge as a fighting game “from the makers of Tekken” is, ironically, a double-edged sword that both promotes interest and inflates expectation. Given the success of its siblings, comparisons are inevitable.